Dollar slightly weaker, falls to ¥110.29 at end of Tokyo trading

The dollar was marginally softer around ¥110.30 in late Tokyo trading Thursday amid a dearth of major market-moving news.

At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at ¥110.29-29, down from ¥110.36-37 at the same time Wednesday. The euro was at $1.1140-1140, down from $1.1152-1152, and at ¥122.86-88, down from ¥123.08-09.

In early trading, the dollar dropped close to ¥110.20, due to falls in long-term U.S. interest rates and Wall Street stocks reflecting concerns over U.S.-China trade tensions.

The weak performance of the benchmark Nikkei stock average sent the greenback to levels near ¥110.10 later in the morning.

The U.S. currency regained some steam to top ¥110.30 in midafternoon trading before easing back later.

The dollar’s topside was capped as “long-term U.S. interest rates remained low,” an official of a major Japanese bank said.

Investor sentiment is worsening due to uncertainties over the course of four-day European Parliament elections through Sunday and Britain’s exit from the European Union, or Brexit, as well as the U.S.-China trade conflict, the official added.

Currency market players “are paying attention to whether British Prime Minister Theresa May will soon announce her decision to step down” amid confusion over Brexit, an official at a foreign exchange margin trading service firm said.